Ratchet end for brace bits



Oct. 25, 1949. A. l.. sTowELL 2,485,991

RATCHET' END FOR BRACE BITS Filed April 10, 1946 Patented Oct. 25, 1949 JOFFICE '.R'Arcnnfr END Fonnacn lsrrs fAustin'fL. Stowell, 1New Britain, ..6onn., assigner ,toJIhe'xStanlcy 'Wol-ks, New Britain, Conn., -a :corporation cf Connecticut The present invention relates to' Ibit braces o'f the box? ratchet'y typev comprising' a ratchet end, `a spindle journaled inthe ratchet end andcarrying a shell -and'jaws'la crank or bow connected tof the ratchet "end `and 4extending laterally therefrom, pawls.'flnounte'd'- in-y thevratchet--endand cooperating VAwith f'ratchet teeth-on =the spindle, anda camming sleeve journaledfon theratchetendy for selectively -lengaging `the pawls with the ratchet teeth.

Y"l`hefztimj er the inventionv is to provide al simple, strong `-`and l`economically manufactured ratchet end-Ether parts-ofrwhich rnay be' cheaply'- made ofsteel and readilyr assembled, 1' theresulting structurelbeingfextremely"durable' and ofv pleasing 4appearance Other `objects'will 'be-'in part obvious and in part pointed outv moreindetail hereinafter.

The invention'accordingly consists in the features :of :construction l'scombination oi-alements and arrangement of parts which will-,be exenmli-4 ed in the..constructionhereafter.setiorth and the scope 'of the application of which will be indicatedin the appendedy claim.

'The Aaccompanyingdrawings':y illustrate .one embodimentawhichmy invention may take:-

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a portion of a blt brace in which my improved ratchet end is incorporated;

Fig. 2 is a. vertical longitudinal sectional view of the assembled ratchet end;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the head of the ratchet end;

Fig. 4 is a left-hand view of the head, referring to Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the head;

Fig. 6 is a right-hand end view of the shank of the ratchet end, referring to Fig. '7;

Fig. 7 is a side view of the shank;

Fig. 8 is a bottom view of the shank;

Fig. 9 is a side view of the collar or bushing 'of the ratchet end; and

Fig. 10 is a bottom view thereof.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Fig. l, A denotes my improved ratchet end. B is a spindle carrying the usual shell and jaws at one end, the spindle at its upper end being provided with ratchet teeth 4 and journaled in ratchet end A and maintained in place by a nut 5 on a threaded stem 6 projecting from the upper end of the head of the ratchet end. Pivoted in the ratchet end and cooperating with ratchet teeth 4 on the spindle are two oppositely positioned pawls 1, only one pawl being illustrated. The ratchet end is provided with a lateral extension or shank for receiving the crank orbow 8l ofthe `bit brace and about this extension-'is a camming sleeve 9 cooperating in the usual manner with the tails (not shown) of the pawls.

Referring moreparticularly to my improved ratchet end, the same comprises three pieces,a headID, a shank II, and a collar or bushingl I2. The head IIJ, which may be formed-from steel stock, is provided with a ver-tical cylindrical bore or chamber I3 for accommodating'the toothed portion-4 of the spindle. Chamber I3 is counterbored'at its lower end, asv at I4,--and `isprovided at its upper end with an opening I5 axially aligned with the other bores for receiving stem '6 o'i the spindle. One end of theheadis provided with a circular reccss'orl bore I6 disposed. at right angles' to the chamber I3 and adapted to accommodateone end of the shank. The headlll) is transversely milled on-a horizontal plane, as at I1, providing a slot through the chamber I3,` the recessIG, and the wall I8 between the chamber and therecess. The endof the head containing the chamberis rounded, as at'l9, to providea pleasing appearance and to reduce the weight thereof.

The shank `II is-formed from round steel stock and is provided, at one end, with an axial bore 22 for receiving the end of the crank or bow 8. The shank is transversely and horizontally slotted at the other end, as at 23, and the diameter of the shank is such as to fit in the recess I6 of the head. The slot 23 is so positioned that when the shank is fitted into the head, an elongated horizontal slot is formed for accommodating the pawls 1. The collar or bushing I2 is a circular piece having a through opening 3i) of equal diameter to the diameter of chamber I3. At the upper end of the collar is a cylindrical flange 3| of such dimension as to closely fit in the counterbore I4 of the body member.

The head is formed from steel stock which, if desired, may be square in cross section. The recess I6 may be bored in a, screw machine and at the same time the corners of the stock chamfered, as at 20, to give the head an ornamental appearance. The piece may then be cut from the stock and be bored and drilled in a chucking machine to form the chamber I3, the counterbore I 4, and the opening I5. A milling machine may then be employed to round the piece about the radius of the bore and to mill the slot Il. The shank may be very easily and cheaply manufactured by boring a piece of stock and cutting it to length in a screw machine and then, in a second operation, milling the slot. The collar or bushing may tted into the recess I6 of the head. A brazing material is applied to the joints as, for example, by inserting rings of copper into the bores before inserting the shank and collar therein. The assembled parts are then brazed together by applygen is excluded, or by-immersing in a liquid heat bath. This procedure has the advantage of keeping the surface of all parts clean and free from scale or other oxidation. After assembling the parts of the ratchet end, vertical holes 35 are bored through the outer wall 2I of the recess I6 of the head and through the end of the shank projecting into the recess. Into these holes are inserted pivot pins on which are mounted the pawls. The camming sleeve is then inserted over the shank and maintained in position by a pin 4I) (Fig. 1) driven into the shank. The crank or bowf is then driven or force-fitted into the axial bore 22 of the shank.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that my improved ratchet end is easily and economically manufactured with a minimum of operations, and that the parts thereof can be quickly assembled into a complete rigid unit which, in turn, is easily assembled with the other parts of the brace bit into the finished product.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language ing heat, preferably in a medium from which oxy- 1 4 used in the following claim is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

A ratchet end for bit braces comprising a head, a shank and a collar, said head being formed of steel bar stock and having adjacent one end a transverse chamber with a counterbore at one end of the chamber and an axial opening at the other end of the chamber so as to accommodate a chuck spindle, said head having in its other end a circular recess disposed at right angles to said chamber there being'a wall between said chamber and recess and having a diametrical slot at right angles to the axis of the chamber extending through said recess, said wall, and a portion of the wall of 'said chamber, the first-mentioned end of said head being curved substantially about the axis of said chamber; said shank comprising; a cylindrical piece of steel having one end tted into said recess and provided with a diametrical slot registering with said first-mentioned slot and forming a continuation thereof so as to provide an elongated opening closed at each end adapted to receive ratchet pawls, the other end of said shank having an axial bore to receive the end of a crank; said collar comprising a steel bushing having a through opening corresponding in diameter to and registering with said chamber and having a cylindrical flange at one end fitted in said counterbore With the remainder of the collar pro-v jecting outwardly from the head, said shank and collar being permanently joined to the head by brazing.

AUSTIN L. STOWELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS- Number Name Date 1,623,541 Hutson Apr. 5, 1927 1,915,245 Cook June 20, 1933 

